Brazil’s South American Project

Jun 10 2014

Author(s)

Matias Spektor

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Source

The Inter-American Dialogue is pleased to publish this working paper by Matias Spektor, a leading expert on Brazilian foreign policy. Spektor is an associate professor at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro and is the author of several books on international affairs including Kissinger and Brazil (2009), and Azeredo da Silveira: A testimony (2010). From January to December 2013, he held the Rio Branco Chair in International Relations at King’s College London.

Accounting for roughly half of the continent’s area, population, GDP, and defense spending, Brazil is the unquestioned power in South America. Yet, despite its regional clout, Spektor argues, Brazil’s role and vision within its immediate sphere is far from clear. The paper traces the evolution of the country’s “South America” project over the past two decades, linking it to Brazil’s transformation and a changing global environment. In the end, Spektor maintains, Brazil’s regional approach is in need of greater clarity and a meaningful renewal to effectively address the challenges confronting the country and the continent.

The Inter-American Dialogue is immensely grateful to the CAF Development Bank of Latin America for its generous support of the Latin America Working Group and its working papers. The series is a byproduct of an evolving working group effort the Dialogue launched in 2001.

The group is made up of select and diverse analysts and policymakers from throughout the region, as well as Europe, Canada and the United States. The group essentially serves as a “brain trust,” or core of advisors, for the Dialogue on major challenges facing the region. The goal of the group is not necessarily to reach agreement or produce consensus documents. Rather, it is to generate fresh interpretations of the issues driving the region’s politics in order to shape thought and encourage constructive responses.

To date, the papers have dealt with a wide range of topics, including Mexican security, the Colombian conflict, political polarization in Venezuela, the situation in Bolivia, civil-military relations in the Andean nations, corruption, petro-politics, and citizen security.

Michael Shifter
President

Downloads

The State of Brazil's South American Project